WRAL Sports Fan

UNC can win it all with White

By Mark Thomas
Mar 24, 2012

I was amazed at all the media response to the Tar Heels play with Stilman White at the helm against Ohio, because despite their pessimistic outlook, I still think North Carolina can win it all with White at the point.

Jeff Goodman from CBS sports tweeted, “Anyone still think UNC can win it all without Kendall Marshall?? No shot. Offense looks pitiful without him.”

In truth, the offense did look bad at times. And it was definitely different without Marshall. Roy Williams said that Marshall pushes the ball up the floor after made baskets faster than any player he’s ever coached. However, I don’t think it’s as hopeless as everyone makes it out to be. If you look at it with some perspective, I believe where they played and how White played may change some tunes.

First, North Carolina’s offense wasn’t as good as it’s been all year with Kendall Marshall at the point. No kidding right. But I don’t see that as a Kendall Marshall problem. If you compare them to every other team that played at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday night, they were the best.

North Carolina shot 40% from the field. That was better than Ohio (32%), NC State (28%), and even the team they play Sunday, Kansas (37%). From three the Heels (32%) were better than NC State (28%) and Kansas (7%). And they were similar to Ohio (37%). Which just proves that teams don’t shoot as well in a dome. USA Today’s article about poor shooting in domes backs up a statistical expectation of North Carolina’s poor shooting.

Poor shooting doesn’t really hurt a team that can rebound like the Heels. They out-rebounded Ohio by 33. They had 63 rebounds, the most by a UNC team in a NCAA tournament game. If Harrison Barnes doesn’t have a horrible day (3-16 fg), this game doesn’t go to overtime and the offense just looks better. Not to mention Stilman White has more assists (6). If he dropped 10 dimes he would be applauded tod.

Second, eight players played for UNC. Seven of them had at least two turnovers. The only guy who didn’t was Stilman White. He had zero. Now, some of that may have been from other players trying to do too much in Kendall Marshall’s absence. But that’s not a Stilman White problem.

“I know Carolina as a team last night had a lot of turnovers,” said Kansas point guard Tyshawn Taylor Saturday. And after being told White had none, he admitted he assumed it was due to White playing in place of Marshall. “If you wouldn’t of told me that I would of thought that it was because Kendall didn’t play.”

White did what he needed to do to win. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t a thing of beauty. It wasn’t Kendall Marshall. But if he plays like that again, North Carolina will beat Kansas. It’s up to his team mates to start hitting shots. Open shots that they’ve hit all year.

Finally, are the Tar Heels a better team with Marshall? Absolutely. But this time of year, you don’t have to be the perfect team. You just have to be the best team among the two playing in one game. The Heels have 3 first round draft picks on the floor with Stillman White. They key is keeping this Ferrari of an offense between the ditches. Don’t strip out the gears, and don’t try to drive it like someone else. White is doing that.